anyone built any of the Mojotone amps? like to hear your thoughts

[darylcrisp]

how the quality of the kit was, instructions, did you have any issues and need to call them-if so-were they helpful, and long term use, how has it held up.
last, have you been satisfied with the purchase.

i'm looking at the tweed deluxe 5E3, blackface deluxe reverb, or princeton reverb


thank you
d

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

I've been wondering the same thing about the Modkits MOD-102. And the Mojotone stuff as well. I'll be following this.

 

[Chipss36]

Long ago i did , better quality than Weber.
Instructions are the layout and schematic...
You should be comfortable working that way and understand high voltage before attempting this...
Every amp you listed, has tons Websites on them, people who built them. How to repair them, how to mod them....how to drain filter caps, or how to bias output tubes..

no step by step guide with any kit that I know Of?

Any tube amp that is on eyelets and hand wired is built for the long haul,
Very serviceable. Fairly forgiving of mistakes made during the build, unlike pcb, easy to mod, change lead dress. And a much better amp than a fender reissue over the long term...

I used a few kits starting out, if I build now kits have many things I would change, making the kit not so worthwhile.
But it is a good way to start.

 

[Vermoulian]

I’ve built a 5E3 and a 5F6-A from Mojo kits. As noted, they don’t come with instructions, just a schematic and layout diagram. If you’ve never built an amp you will probably want an additional source of guidance. But I have no issues at all with the quality of the kits themselves. Components were decent quality. IIRC you can order them in various levels of completeness. I got mine with cabinets and speakers but without tubes. The cabinets are excellent. The speakers with mine were new ceramic Jensens. I think they’re fine, but reasonable minds can differ and I’m sure there are people who will say those amps require/deserve different speakers.

 

[Tele Slacker]

I’ve built 4 (mostly) Mojotone kits so far: two 5e3, a 5f1, and a 5f2a (current project). Very good quality. I do use other speakers at times (only because MT did not stock the speakers i wanted), and sometimes use Mallory caps instead if Orange Drops (think the ODs are good quality, just seems Mallorys *may* sound more authentic). I couldn’t be more pleased with their customer service, thus far.

Seems like power transformer may sometimes be a little ‘robust’, but i can’t back that up - except that ive noticed they now offer a lower voltage PT (330-0-330), in addition to the regular PT (384-0-384). Again - robust or not - seems to be high quality parts.

 

[Tele Slacker]

how the quality of the kit was, instructions, did you have any issues and need to call them-if so-were they helpful, and long term use, how has it held up.
last, have you been satisfied with the purchase.

i'm looking at the tweed deluxe 5E3, blackface deluxe reverb, or princeton reverb


thank you
d

Also... you might want to spend some time in the Shock Brothers DIY Amp forum. Lots of historical& current discussions regarding various kits (and builder experience), including Mojotone kits.

If youre going down the build path, a priceless resource is @robrob amp page. While “priceless” to us, I suspect he may welcome a financial thank you! Haha. Certainly deserving.

 

[BCblues55]

I attended one of their workshops last year and they helped me build a 5e3. I did the work but they looked over my shoulder occasionally and did the testing. It was my first amp build, and I loved the experience. Great amp!

And yes, Rob Robinette’s website is a fantastic resource. Check it out!

 

[Paul G.]

I've built two. A 5E3 -- excellent quality, great instructions, clear layout and accurate schematic. Everything went together like a champ, and first startup was perfect.

The JTM45 was a bit disappointing. The parts were fine, the layout unclear and they changed much of the power supply from the normal, and I had some issues figuring it out. Eventually the amp went together and, it sounds great, is quiet, and has been utterly reliable.

 

[CheesyCucumber]

I've built several Mojo BF and tweed kits for myself and several others.

The great:

• Customer service is generally excellent
• Schematics are almost entirely vintage correct (you'll want to modernize some of the wiring though)
• Pots, switches, caps and most other components are of decent / good quality

The not so great but not deal-breakers:

• Occasionally you get too little solid core wire.
• Tube sockets could be better, the stamped metal bits aren't great, not a big issue though
• BF knobs are a little cheap looking, there are several better reproductions that exist
• Some will tell you to use other caps, I find them fine
• The tolex was cut poorly on a few of the BF cabs I ordered, especially on the overlapping areas, they cut through the bottom layer and you can therefore see some bare wood peeking through. Covering it with black marker hides the bare wood but I expect better
• Finger joints look exactly like how Fender did them back in the day (i.e. messy and sometimes with huge chunks missing), great if you're going for the vintage-correct look.

The bad

• One Super Reverb 410 cab arrived so severely warped / poorly put together that the cab wobbles when on any surface, even soft, plush carpets.
  • I've tried my best to correct this with clamps and weights, however even after that it still wobbles unless I sit on it.
  • When I lay it down on the front or back when transporting the amp, it also doesn't sit flat and rocks, slowly dislodging the tubes.
  • Inserting or removing the chassis from this specific cab is a chore as there is no wiggle room due to the severe misalignment of the panels
  • I didn't pursue a refund or return (which would've cost as much / more than buying a new cab due to where I live) after support said it's to be expected since they're hand-built and variance is par for the course. This was after I sent picture evidence, so make of it what you will.

 

[warrent]

Have a look at the stewmac website. They offer some of mojotone kits and you can download step by step instructions for them.
(link removed)

 

[schmee]

I think the Mojo kits are pretty good and components are good. Allen stuff was good too. Not wild about the Mojo thick steel faceplate but that's a nit pick. I usually order my own components though rather than kits. JD Newell cabs are better than Mojo or Weber. But all 3 are good enough IME.
If I had to order a complete kit It would be Mojo or Allen.

 

[nathan5782]

I've built two. A 5E3 -- excellent quality, great instructions, clear layout and accurate schematic. Everything went together like a champ, and first startup was perfect.

The JTM45 was a bit disappointing. The parts were fine, the layout unclear and they changed much of the power supply from the normal, and I had some issues figuring it out. Eventually the amp went together and, it sounds great, is quiet, and has been utterly reliable.

I did one of their JTM45 kits too, they had two different layouts an older revision on their website and a newer version that came with the kit. I did not buy a full kit, I just got the small parts kit and transformers and had bought the chassis from Antique Electronics. The newer layout that was sent with the kit had some missing information which I was able to contact them by email and they emailed the older layout. I had a pin retainer come out of one of the 9 pin sockets before I soldered the lead wires and test fit a tube, I contacted them and they offered to replace it but I ended up using different sockets. One of the cliff jacks for the input had a problem with buzzing and was replaced. The other parts like pots and caps were good quality. It has been about a year since building this amp and it has held up good.

 

[archetype]

I've built two. A 5E3 -- excellent quality, great instructions, clear layout and accurate schematic. Everything went together like a champ, and first startup was perfect.

The JTM45 was a bit disappointing. The parts were fine, the layout unclear and they changed much of the power supply from the normal, and I had some issues figuring it out. Eventually the amp went together and, it sounds great, is quiet, and has been utterly reliable.

Your 5E3 "went together like a champ"? Now I'm all confused.

Sorry... that was just waiting to be said.

 

[clydethecat]

Have a look at the stewmac website. They offer some of mojotone kits and you can download step by step instructions for them.
(link removed)

Mojo now has similar instructions for a few of the most popular kits.

 

[Whatizitman]

Some mojotone kits come with full instructions, as they use them for their build classes. The 5E3 and 18watt kits should have instructions available.

like with anything else, the more resources you have, the better. Most of the amps are commonly built models. Tons of resources are available all over the interwebz, including TDPRI. Arm yourself with knowledge.

As for the MOD kits, less info online, as they are not clones. I'm interested in the 102 because it's all PTP wired, as are their pedals. No turrets. They DO have step-by-step instructions. However, extra resources are still your friend. As I understand, one of the big issues with the 102 is grounding. Read up on grounding schemes before you dive in.

 

[koolaide]

I have built a champ and a 5 E3, but not mojo kits. I sourced all the parts from Clark amplification. They had a shop near me back then. I would recommend you visit some of the amp forums here or elsewhere. I visit The amp garage. They seem to specialize in Trainwreck and Dumble, but there is a Fender section. There are some really knowledgeable folks there. Rob Robinette is a member here and his site is a wealth of information.

IMHO you will fare better to gain some knowledge and then source your own parts.

Happy Hunting

 

[oldpkr]

I built a MOJO 5E3 kit within the last year and the only trouble I had was grounding. trying to follow the schematic gave too many ground points. the kit included two terminal strip mounting tabs but no instructions as to where to place them. ended up following Rob Robinette's grounding scheme. amp sounds and looks great. will probably build another of theirs

 

[alathIN]

how the quality of the kit was, instructions, did you have any issues and need to call them-if so-were they helpful, and long term use, how has it held up.
last, have you been satisfied with the purchase.

i'm looking at the tweed deluxe 5E3, blackface deluxe reverb, or princeton reverb


thank you
d

I had a great experience with Trinity Amps for my first build.
Only kits I know of that come with a builder's guide.
And Steven is very good at troubleshooting via email.

Two more things that make me a Trinity fan:
1. They hit the sweet spot on cost/quality. The transformers and other components that really matter most or are hard to replace are top-notch. But they don't waste your hard earned money on a tone cap that was made of platinum wrapped in papyrus and dipped in whale oil in 1922, because of course you inly want to send the very purest of signals to ground.
The caps and pots and jacks are good quality but not pointlessly exotic.

2. They have some interesting options, not just the same stuff everyone has. Check out the Tramp in particular.

 

[darylcrisp]

wow, thank you all. excellent info and a lot of places to do some research and learning. time to get busy and follow thru on every site or forum as you suggested. I want this to be a fun, SAFE, and highly usable build. Not in a rush with this.

i almost purchased a kit from stewmac a month or two ago, they had a decent sale, thinking $150 off on most kits. something came up and took all my free funds. i'm a stewmac member and use a lot of stuff from them-not the cheapest for sure, but everything i usually get works very well, and thats a good thing these days. i've since noticed on a couple stewmac review that some folks say the stewmac kits are in fact mojo kits. I'll call them down the road once i set firm on the exact model to build, and once i have enough knowledge to know the questions i need to ask them.

thank all of you again for your time, offering of knowledge, and effort in replying.

d

 

[Viejo]

I've built 8 Mojotone kits though I use Weber Speakers. I consider them to be of very good quality and reasonably priced. It looks to me like quite a few manufacturers and kit sellers use Mojo as their supplier. I won't name anyone because it is just a suspicion. But I heartily recommend Mojo. Good quality,Good service, Decent people to deal with